Trickfire Robotics

The University of Washington Bothell robotics team. We're a student run interdisciplinary team, and our goal is to give students an opportunity to apply skills learned in class and to also learn new skills, all while engaging in a team environment. We also engage with other local robotics teams and companies, such as the Seattle Children's Alyssa Burnett Adult Life Center, to help engage local children in STEM activities. Since 2017, we are participating in the annual NASA Robotic Mining Competition. This competition involves navigating across a field of Martian stimulant around rocks and craters, digging through the ground to pick up gravel to simulate ice, and then bringing it back to deposit in a bin. Points are lost for power consumption, data transmission, and weight, just like a real mission, and points are awarded for having a dust-tolerant design and autonomy. This poses very large mechanical, electrical, and software challenges, as well as the difficulties associated with running a team such as fundraising an administration.